PRISON FELLOWSHIP BLOG: Craig DeRoche

During his first State of the Union address, President Trump declared that former inmates who have served their time deserve a second chance. America is ready for prison reform, but will Washington act?

A new report by the Federal Bureau of Investigations has revealed an increase of violent crime for the year 2015, marking a three-year high after declines in violence in 2013 and 2014. Much of this has been driven by increases in homicides in several of the nation’s urban centers, including Chicago, Houston, and Washington, DC.

A significant number of cities in the United States reported an increase in homicide rates in 2015—a disturbing trend that some have claimed marks the end of a period that saw historic reductions in violent crimes in places like New York City and Chicago.

The images of prison are familiar to all of us—cold, pale concrete walls, with limited light filtering through narrow, bar-protected windows; prisoners in solid jumpsuits shuffling through the corridors under the watchful eye of ever-present guards; small, unadorned cells where men and women live out long prison terms in solitude and despair.

In January, the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections concluded a year of discussion and research by releasing a series of recommendations for reforming the criminal justice system. Craig DeRoche, Prison Fellowship’s senior vice president for advocacy and public policy, served on the task force, and offers his thoughts on those recommendations, and the future of reform.